Question: If the sales tax in your city is $7.8\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$153$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
Explanation: In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${7.8\%} \times {\$153} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $7.8\%$ is equivalent to $7.8 \div 100$ $7.8 \div 100 = 0.078$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.078$ $\times$ $$153$ = $$11.93$ You would pay $$11.93$ in sales tax.